Lesson: DISASTER AWARENESS, PREPAREDNESS, AND MANAGEMENT Vulnerability meets Hazards

I. Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) concepts, principles
and trends (RA 10121)
DRRM - It is the concept of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to
assess and manage the causes of disasters, including through reduced exposure to
hazards, lessened vulnerability of people and property, wise land and environmental
management, and improved preparedness for adverse events.
Components of DRR and Management
Pre-event
1. PREVENTION – The outright avoidance of adverse impacts of hazards and related
disasters. Prevention expresses the concept and intention to completely avoid
potential adverse impacts through action taken in advance. Can be in the form of
proper land use of using suitable engineering design.
Disasters are caused by the interaction of vulnerability and hazards. There are many
different factors that determine vulnerability. Hazards can also be called 'Trigger
Events'. When one hazard meets with a vulnerable community a disaster is likely to
occur. E.g. Poverty will have people build houses with weaker materials and in more
dangerous areas. A landslide will cause a disaster for these poor people because the
house will not have the CAPACITY to withstand it and it will collapse. People will die,
and even if they survive they may not have the CAPACITY to build again.
Vulnerability assessment – A vulnerability assessment is a systematic review of
security weaknesses in an information system. It evaluates if the system is susceptible
to any known vulnerabilities, assigns severity levels to those vulnerabilities, and
recommends remediation or mitigation, if and whenever needed.
Oversight and Implementation

2. MITIGATION – The lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and

related disasters. While the adverse impacts of hazards often cannot be prevented
fully, their scale of severity can be substantially lessened by various strategies and
actions.
3. ADAPTATION – The adjustment in natural or human systems in response to
actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or
exploits beneficial opportunities.

Post-evet
4. RESPONSE – The provision of emergency services or public assistance during or
immediately after a disaster in order to save lives, reduce health impacts, ensure
public safety, and meet the basic subsistence needs of the people affected.
II. Geographic Profile of the Philippines
Disaster response is predominantly focused on immediate and short-term needs
and is sometimes called “disaster relief.” Philippines is an archipelago state, consisting of some 7,100 islands and islets, and
covering a land area of approximately 300,000 km 2. The country comprises three
5. RECOVERY – The restoration, and improvement, where appropriate, of facilities, groups or large islands: 1) The Luzon group in the north and west, consisting of Luzon,
livelihoods and living conditions of disaster affected communities, including efforts Mindoro, and Palawan; 2) The Visayas group in the center, consisting of Bohol, Cebu,
to reduce disaster risk factors. The recovery task and rehabilitation and Leyte, Masbate, Negros, Panay and Samar; and, 3) Mindanao in the South.
reconstruction begins soon after the emergency phase has ended, and should be
based on pre-existing strategies and policies that facilitate clear institutional
responsibilities for recovery action and enable public participation
III. Disaster Risk Profile of the Philippines

The Philippines is prone to almost all types of natural hazards because of its
geographical location and geotectonic setting. In addition, the Philippines is situated
along the highly-seismic Pacific Ring of Fire. This is the area where the Philippine
Sea and Eurasian Tectonic Plates meet and is prone to occurrences of earthquakes,
tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. In fact, there are 300 volcanoes in the country and
22 are active. Almost all parts of the country experience earthquakes.
Generally, we encounter an average of 20 earthquakes a day, per latest figures from
the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). Earthquake
disasters are not as frequent as the typhoons and flooding that take place in the
Philippines.

Pacific Ring of Fire - The Philippine Archipelago occupies the western ring of the
Pacific Ocean (Western Segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire), a most active part of the
earth that is characterized by an ocean-encircling belt of active volcanoes and
earthquake generators (faults).

Disaster Risk Profile and Disaster Risk Management Framework of the Philippines: Natural Disasters